HERO supporters release first ad, counter bathroom claim

Houston Mayor Annise Parker has been battling for the city's equal rights ordinance since its inception in 2014. The hotly contested issue will be on the ballot in November.
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Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff

Supporters of Houston's equal rights ordinance released their first official radio ad Friday, countering opponents' claim that the law presents a public safety threat and seeking to reframe the debate before voters consider the issue in November.

The ad, airing on seven local stations during the next two weeks, features Servants of Christ United Methodist Church Rev. Will Reed tackling the message that critics of the law released last week in a one-minute radio spot. In the piece, a young woman said the non-discrimination ordinance allows men to enter women's restrooms - which she called "filthy" and "unsafe."

$100,000 media buy

Critics of the law have long alleged that it would allow male sexual predators dressed in drag to enter womens' restrooms.

"What's being lost is that it's already illegal to go into a bathroom to harm or harass someone," Reed says in the ad. "This law won't change that. We looked into it, and HERO is actually about providing a needed local tool to protect Houstonians from discrimination based on their race, religion, age, gender, military status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability."

Houston Unites staff said the media buy cost about $100,000 and will air for two weeks on KHMX-FM, KKBQ/KTHT-FM, KODA-FM, KPRC-AM, KTRH-AM, RODA-FM and RTRH-AM.

Both campaigns shifted quickly into gear after the Texas Supreme Court ordered City Council in late July to either repeal the law or affirm it and send the issue to voters, capping a year-long legal battle. City Council voted 12-5 to uphold the law in August, officially placing it on the November ballot.

The ordinance bans discrimination based not just on sexual orientation and gender identity - the flash points for critics - but also, as federal laws do, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, as well as family, marital or military status. The ordinance applies to businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing, city employment and city contracting. Religious institutions are exempt. Violators can be fined up to $5,000.

'Deception' claims

Opponents, who have seized on the law's perceived public safety threat, were quick to dismiss supporters' ad Friday.

Campaign spokesman Jared Woodfill said the message should offer little comfort to residents.

"All the deception and misdirection in the world will never change the fact that this ordinance will allow men to enter women's restrooms," Woodfill said.

Kevin Nix, who coordinates media for the Houston Unites campaign, said in a written statement that the "ad is about setting the record straight on what the equal rights ordinance is."

"It's about our core values of treating others the way we want to be treated," Nix said. "It's about ending employment and housing discrimination in Houston, given that more than half of the claims when the ordinance was on the books were due to racial discrimination. We will continue setting the record straight, too, because opponents are badly misleading and deceiving voters."